


Rumor Has It

by Dylkntz



Category: Boy Meets World
Genre: 5+1 Things, Abandonment Issues, Abusive Households, Adoption, Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Canon Era, Child Abuse, Drinking, Fear, Fights, Guilt, Jack Needs a Hug, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Period Typical Bigotry, Period-Typical Homophobia, basically if Jack was raised by chet, cursing, injuries, it's an au so yeah, jack can draw fight me, jack hunter/eric matthews centric, mentions of arrest, no beta we die like men, ooc ?, this was supposed to be a tumblr only fic but i gave in so here enjoy ig
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 20:00:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30010155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dylkntz/pseuds/Dylkntz
Summary: 5 times Eric helped Jack, and 1 time Jack helped Eric.
Relationships: Jack Hunter & Eric Matthews, Jack Hunter & Jonathan Turner, Jack Hunter & Shawn Hunter, Jack Hunter/Eric Matthews (Boy Meets World)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Rumor Has It

### 1 (Bruises) 

Jack and Eric never really got along. It was either Jack jokingly flirting with Eric, or Eric busting Jack doing something stupid, and somehow getting dragged down with him. Jack was quite literally the bane of Eric’s existence. 

“I hate you,” said Eric as Jack took the seat next to him in Feeny’s history. “and you know this, so why do you insist on sitting next to me _everyday_?” 

Jack didn’t respond, instead he just rested his head on his arm. Eric found it a bit weird considering Jack Hunter never turned down an opportunity to be a smart ass. He gently poked Jack in the side with his pencil, and Jack didn’t budge. 

Eric poked him again, not used to the uncomfortable silence that came with Jack not trying to jokingly stick his tongue down everyone's throat. This time Jack peaked his head up a bit to glare at Eric. Thanks to the small view Eric was given, he was able to see a gruesome black eye. Except it was more purple and yellow, and it honestly looked _bad_. 

“That looks bad.” Eric whispered, and Jack snorted. “Did you at least ice it?” Jack didn’t respond, and Eric took that as his answer, “ _No_? Jesus Jack it could get infected you idiot!” 

Feeny shot Eric a look from the front of the classroom, and Eric lowered his voice, “Dude, you can’t just leave it out like that. It looks _bad_.” 

Jack laughed, “Thank you Captain Obvious. Yes I know it looks bad, but I’m fine I swear.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“ _Yes,_ ” said Jack exasperated, “why do you care anyway?” 

Eric didn’t respond. Instead he turned back to his notes, or at least what were supposed to be notes. They were more like doodles and a couple of coherent thoughts. He heard Jack grumble under his breath, and Eric sighed turning to face him. 

“Look,” He said “My brother would kill me- not that I’m afraid of him, but he would kill me if something happened to you. Because something happening to you affects Shawn, and I would never hear the end of it. So-” He sighed, “Just let me help you with your eye ok, I won’t ask don’t worry.” 

Jack was silent at first, and Eric was ready to give up on him, but then he sighed. Lifting his head fully off the desk, but still shielding it from the others in the class, he spoke quietly, “I- I don’t want or need your help,”

Eric sighed, he tried at least.

“But-” Jack took a deep breath, changing his expression from in pain to the classic Jack Hunter smirk, “You’re pretty pathetic _begging_ me to let you help me. So I guess it wouldn’t hurt, no pun intended, if I let you help.” 

Eric smiled, glad that Jack was finally accepting someone's help for once, “Good, uh meet me after school, just climb through the window. You can climb through windows right?” 

“Oh my god,” Jack laughed “of course I can fucking climb through a window.” 

_\-----_

“So,” Eric threw down the first aid kit from his bathroom “How many bruises do you have, because I only have so much rubbing alcohol.” 

Jack smiled, raising his eyebrow, “As many as you want dollface, just say the word.” 

“ _Ok_ ,” Eric’s face started heating up, but he ignored it “none of that, can you be serious for a second. You agreed for me to help you, so you need to be cooperative.” 

Jack rolled his eyes, before shrugging off his leather jacket, and taking off his shirt. Showing off a few new tattoo’s that Eric didn’t remember from their last trip to the beach. 

“Those are new?” said Eric, and Jack just shrugged.

“I get bored sometimes.”

“So you draw on yourself with an ink pen?” Eric asked, and Jack thought about it a bit, before nodding. “ _Ok_ , uh so some of these don’t look too bad, so it shouldn’t take too long.” 

“Matthews,” Jack sighed “I don’t need the details, just get to whatever you suburban kids do when you get roughed up.” 

Eric opened the first aid kit, “I’m not going to do anything fancy, just clean it and put something over the cuts.” He gently pressed an alcohol pad onto Jack’s knuckles, and Jack hissed. 

“ _Jesus_ ,” He drew his hand back “Warn a guy.” 

Eric responded by pressing the pad onto Jack’s other hand, holding it with a stronger grip this time so he didn’t pull away. Jack winced a bit, but eventually let Eric do his thing. Eric managed to get through cleaning, and bandaging Jack’s knuckles before Jack started to squirm again. 

“Stay still,” Eric gritted out, trying to clean a cut on Jack’s shoulder, “If you keep moving you’re going to make it worse.” 

Jack hissed as Eric pressed the pad to his skin again, “It’s cold, and it burns.” He started moving to get away from Eric, and Eric grabbed his shoulder to hold him still, and Jack finally stilled. 

“God you’re such a baby,” Eric whispered, and Jack didn’t respond. When Eric finished cleaning and bandaging what needed it he let go of Jack. 

Jack turned to face Eric, “I don’t get you Matthews.” He smirked, leaning in a bit closer to Eric, who just scooted further away from Jack. “You’re one of the only people in the school I haven’t made out or slept with, why is that?” 

“Uh because we’re both boys,” Eric countered, his face heating up “I didn’t even know you played for that team Hunter.”

Jack smirked, “We _all_ know that’s not it Matthews.” He got a bit closer, “And I’ve been flirting with you since we met. I’d be pretty disappointed if you still thought I was straight.” Eric didn’t respond, and Jack pulled back, “Wait did you still think I was straight?” 

Sputtering, Eric crossed his arms, “Well I mean I don’t just assume peoples sexuality’s. That would be rude, yeah it’s a bit more of an accepting time now but most people aren’t as loud about it as you, so I just-” Jack gave him a pointed look, and Eric just held his face in his hands, “ _Yes_ I thought you were just comfortable in your sexuality ok.” 

Jack's eyes widened, and he got up. “I need to go clear my head.” 

“What why?” 

“I don’t know what I did wrong.” 

“What?” Eric was so confused, “What the fuck are you talking about.” 

“I need to go fix what made you think I was straight.” Jack said mono toned, before climbing out of Eric’s window. 

Eric laughed. Jack was one strange dude, but he was kinda growing on him. 

### 2 (Drinking) 

Eric was going to have a great day. He hadn’t spoken to Jack in a while, meaning he’d manage to stay out of Jack’s trouble. He got a B on his history test. Eric had a good feeling about today. Well that was until Jack ran into him, literally, while he was walking to class. 

“Hey,” Eric yelped, “Watch it!” 

Jack laughed, slightly swaying “You watch it Matthews.” He leaned in close to Eric, and Eric could smell the alcohol on his breath. Eric grabbed Jack’s arm, pulling him into the nearest empty classroom. “Slow down Matthews, I thought you insisted you didn’t play for my team.” 

“I don’t.” Eric said, clenching his jaw, and Jack pouted. “Why’re you drunk Jack.” 

“‘M because.” Jack said, aimlessly playing with his fingers. Eric motioned for him to go on, because wasn't a good enough answer. “ _Because_ , it’s fun,” Jack spat, “and you can’t tell me it’s not.” 

“Yeah well it might be fun,” Eric said “but it’s also bad for you Jack.” 

“Yeah,” sighed Jack “I know, liver failure, or whatever.” 

Eric laughed in disbelief, “Are you serious?” Jack just shrugged his shoulders, “You aren’t fucking with me right now, you’re actually dead serious about this.” Eric scoffed, “Wow.” 

“I don’t get what the big deal is-” 

“The big deal?” Eric screamed, the students outside could probably hear him at this point, “The big deal Jack? The big deal is alcoholism is in your blood, and you’ve always been so careful. Only having maybe a half a beer at a party, and now. Now you’re showing up to school drunk!”

Jack rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, “I just think you’re just being unfair.” Eric’s eyes widened, and Jack gave him a serious look, “Are you drunk? No. So butt out Matthews.” 

Eric watched as Jack pushed past him, and walked out of the classroom, shooting a couple of kids glares. Eric sighed, running his hands through his hair, and walked out of the empty classroom as the bell rang. A couple of kids gave him strange looks, and he realized how bad it looked to be walking out of an empty classroom after Jack Hunter. 

He heard a couple of giggles as he walked to class, and he shot them a look to shut them up. He walked past Cory who gave him a questionable smile, and Eric just mouthed ‘Later’ to him, and kept walking. He walked into Feeny’s class, and took his usual seat, not banking on Jack actually showing up to class. 

Four minutes into Feeny’s class, and Eric had already zoned out. Feeny was droning on and on about some dead guy, as usual, and Eric was practically falling asleep. He usually manages to stay awake in this class even if he’s not paying attention, but for some reason he was dozing off today. 

It was Jack’s absence, Eric realized. Jack was always flirting with Eric or mumbling snarky comments under his breath, and Eric hadn’t realized until today, but Eric kinda looks forward to seeing Jack in Feeny’s class. It was boring, more than usual, without Jack. 

Feeny tapped him on the shoulder, and Eric looked up drowsily, “Hmm?” 

“Falling asleep Mr.Matthews?” Feeny asked, and Eric shrugged. Feeny sighed, and pointed to the empty seat next to Eric. “Mr.Hunter couldn’t be bothered to come to class today I see.”

Eric paused, he should probably tell Feeny about the whole ‘Jack being drunk’ thing, but at the same time Feeny would probably call his Dad, and Jack’s Dad wasn’t the _nicest_ person. But it was Feeny, and he wouldn’t do anything to get students in situations like that. 

“Look-” Eric ribbed his face, “Mr. Feeny can we uh….uh talk after class.” Feeny nodded, and Eric turned back to practically falling asleep at his desk. When the class was, _finally_ , over Eric grabbed his stuff, and walked to Feeny’s desk. 

“You wanted to talk to me Mr.Matthews,” Feeny said, not looking up from his papers, “well, what can I help you with today?” 

Eric took a deep breath, deciding it was better to just get it all out, “Jack’s drinking.” Feeny paused, and looked up, “He’d drank before, but rarely, like maybe half a beer at a party. But today he shows up completely wasted, and he won’t accept my help, and Mr.Feeny I just-..I just I felt like it was best to tell an adult.” 

Mr.Feeny stood up, “Thank you for telling me Mr.Matthews, I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me about this.” 

Eric nodded, walking his way to his next class, and just hoping he’d made the right decision. 

\-----

“Hey,” Jack said, climbing through Eric’s bedroom window. Eric turned away from him, still a little upset from the events from the day before, “I’m sorry Eric.” 

“Good.” was all Eric said,

Jack sighed, clapping his hands together, “Well, I came here to apologize, but if you won’t accept it then I guess I can’t do anything about it.” 

“You’re a dick,” Eric said, getting up from his bed, “You are a complete asshole, you think you can just waltz into here, and just say “I’m sorry” and boom you’re forgiven- because you can’t! You showed up _drunk_ Jack, drunk, and you didn’t seem to give two fucks about it. Jack you know what that means for you.” 

Jack hung his head, “I know, and I am sorry Eric, I don’t know what got into me. But i’m not going to do it from now on.” He laughed, and mentioned to Eric. “Thanks to you actually, uh Mr.Feeny really laid into me, and he’s got Turner watching over me,” He shrugged, “which kinda works since he was already looking out for Shawn.” 

Eric smiled, “Good. I don’t like you when you drink Hunter.” Jack smiled, giving him a tiny chuckle. 

“Well we can’t have that.” 

### 3 (Truth) 

“Hey can I uh, stay here tonight?” Jack asked, fidgeting with his fingers, there was a light hue of pink on his cheek, which was weird to Eric, “I-..uh I don’t really feel like going home, I mean I know Feeny had to call my dad, and Shawn’s stayi-” 

Eric stopped him, holding a finger to his lips, “You don’t have to explain yourself to me, if I’m being honest I wouldn’t want to come home if I was in your position.” Jack gave a tight smile, and Eric slugged him- albeit weakly, in the shoulder, “I’ve got your back man.” 

“Thanks,” Jack smiled at him, and Eric smiled back, 

Shawn barged into the room, Cory trailing not far behind, “So Tif- oh hey Jack,” He stopped in his tracks, looking between Jack and Eric, and Eric was just now realizing how bad their position looked right now, “are- uh what are you doing here?” 

“I’m uh,” Jack looked Eric with wide eyes, seeming to also realize how their situation looked, “I’m-”

“He’s staying the night,” Eric finished for him, and Shawn nodded, turning around and ushering Cory out of the room. Jack rubbed the back of his neck, standing up, and grabbing his jacket, he headed towards the bedroom window, “hey where are you going?” Eric stood up, not about to let Jack just leave. 

“I’m just going to head out for a bit,” Jack said, “clear my head, um I’m not bailing or anything, it’ll just be like a 10, maybe 15, minute walk.” 

Eric nodded, and watched as Jack climbed out of his window, and he heard him drop with a thud after. Eric sighed, getting up from his own bed, and opening the door, to find Cory and Shawn with their ears pressed to it. “ _Really_?” 

They jumped back, eyes wide, and cheeks pink out of embarrassment of being caught. “We- uh,” They looked between each other, before both pointing to each other, and screaming “It was his idea!” They both glared at each other, before Eric cleared his throat, and they turned their heads to look at him. 

Eric pushed them out of the way, “Room’s all yours idiots.” They nodded awkwardly, walking into the room as he walked down the stairs, and into the kitchen. His dad raised an eyebrow as he grabbed a coat, and walked out the door. 

He walked around the neighborhood aimlessly looking for Jack. It was a bit chilly out, and he wished he’d brought a heavier coat. He’d lost track of how far he walked when he finally spotted Jack. He was sitting in a tree watching a father and son, Eric assumed, play catch. It was a bit creepy, but Eric silently climbed up the tree to sit next to him. Jack didn’t seem to notice him, and Eric carefully placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder. 

Jack jerked his head, looking at Eric in surprise, “You followed me?” Eric shrugged, and Jack gave a bitter laugh, “And here I thought I was the pushy one.” 

Eric didn’t respond to Jack’s comment, instead he looked back at the father and son Jack was watching, “Why are you watching them Jack?” Jack’s face hardened, and he turned away from Eric, who just grabbed his shoulder, and forced Jack to look at him, “Nope, don’t do that.” Jack didn’t respond, and Eric kept talking, “You act all tough Hunter, but you don’t have to be. You know that right? Just tell me what’s going on, and I can help you. But you need to be honest with me, please be honest with me.” 

Tears were silently falling down Jack’s cheeks, and he buried his head in Eric’s shoulder. Eric warped his arms around him, holding the younger boy as he silently sobbed into Eric’s shoulders. Jack gripped onto Eric’s shirt as he cried, and Eric cradled his face in his hands. “Hey, it’s okay, I’ve got you. It’s okay Jackie.” 

When Jack finally stopped crying the sun was starting to go down. He pulled away, and Eric saw how much of a wreck he was. His eyes were red and puffy, his hair was tousled, and his shirt had somehow slipped down past his collar bone, where Eric could see littered bruises, and that’s when it all clicked in Eric’s head. The drinking, the not wanting to go home after he’d gotten in trouble, it all made sense now.

“Your dad,” whispered Eric, his finger lightly brushing the bruises, Jack flinched slightly, and wouldn’t meet Eric’s eyes. “He- he did this?” Jack nodded, still not looking up at Eric, “Holy fuck,” Eric breathed out, and Jack just shook his head. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Jack said softly, “please don’t look at me like that.” 

“Like what?” 

Jack turned to him, “Like you pity me, I-'' His voice got caught in his throat, “I don-” Jack never finished his sentence, as Eric brought him into a tight hug, it was a bit awkward from the angle, but Jack melted into it, wrapping his arms around Eric’s neck. “I’m sorry,” Jack whispered. 

Eric pulled away, “Hey, why are you apologizing?” 

Jack gave Eric a bitter laugh, “I don’t even know,” He sighed, holding his head in his hands, “I- I just feel like I have to, like my existence is inconveniencing you in some way.” Eric squeezed his shoulder in reassurance, and Jack placed his hand over Eric’s. He turned to face Eric, “You know you’re like my best friend right, which is kinda pathetic considering this is the most we’ve gotten along in-” he paused, trying to remember how long they’ve known each other, “ _years_.” 

“Yeah,” Eric nodded, “I know, you’re my best friend too ya know.” 

Jack nodded, rubbing his eyes, he gave a shaky breath, “He’s why I was drinking.” 

“Hm,” Eric gave him a confused look. 

“My dad,” said Jack “him-” He took another shaky breath, “-doing what he does to me, is the reason why I was drinking, I just; I don’t know, I thought it would help I guess.” Eric nodded, understanding where Jack’s thought process was coming from. “But it didn’t, and now I’m in deeper shit than before.” 

“You don’t have to go back,” Eric pointed out, “if we just tell an adult like my parents or-” 

“ _No_.” Jack shook his head, “No, I’m not pushing my problems on them, it’s bad enough that I did that to you-” 

Eric grabbed Jack’s hand, startling him out of his impending self destructive monologue, Jack looked up at him, and Eric couldn’t quite pin the emotions on his face, “My parents love you and Shawn like their own sons, even if you frustrate them a bit, so does Feeny, and for that matter so does Turner, you aren’t pushing your problems on anyone.” 

Jack sighed, resting his head on Eric’s shoulder, “Ok.” 

“Ok?” 

Jack nodded, “I’ll tell someone, but-” He took a deep breath, “I-” He wiped at his eyes, “please don’t leave.” 

Eric slug his shoulder over Jack, pulling him into a tight hug, “I won’t Jackie, I promise you, I won’t” 

### 4 (Rumors)

“So you’re staying with Mr.Turner?” Eric asked, trying not to move as Jack moved the pen across his skin. Jack nodded, lightly sketching a flower on Eric's hand. Eric watched as Jack moved the pen softly across Eric’s skin. “Is it nice there?” ric asked another question, trying to get Jack to speak more than grunts, and scoffs. 

“Better.” Jack said softly, and went back to sketching on Eric’s hand. He hadn’t spoken much since Chet had gotten arrested, even less since the trail. It had only been a few days, so Eric knew he couldn’t hold it against him, he just wished that Jack would open up to him a bit more. “Not like with my-” he paused, looking conflicted for a moment, “like with Chet.” 

Eric smiled at him softly, and a group of girls walked by where they were sitting in the library. 

“Probably both gay-” One of the girls whispered, and Eric tensed a bit. 

The girl next to her nodded, “Did you hear about the guys dad? He hit him around or something, probably because he found out about his sons extracurricular activities.” The girls laughed, looking over at Jack and Eric. Jack didn’t look up, almost as if he didn’t notice them, and if he didn’t Eric was glad. 

One of the other girls looked back at them, and turned to her friends, “I bet Hunter’s got some dirt on Eric and that’s the only reason he hangs out with him.” Jack scoffed under his breath, and Eric turned back to Jack, trying his best to tune the girls out. 

He; however, failed, and heard one of the girls whisper, “Probably just pity's him, I would. Kids dad hit him around, and he’s, uh, yeah, I’d pity him.” Jack tensed next to Eric, and Eric turned to him. 

“They’re assholes,” Eric whispered, “and wrong, so screw them.” Jack smiled a bit, and went back to drawing on Eric’s hand. The girls eventually left, but the stares and whispers didn’t . It was like everyone knew every detail about Jack’s life. Eric should be, but he wasn't surprised. News travels fast around high school, especially news like this. 

“Hey do you wanna get out of here?” Eric asked, “Cory and Shawn are probably getting into some kind of trouble, we can get going and pick them up on the way.” 

“I,” shrugged Jack, “don’t really care. They’re going to talk about me, and Shawn, whether or not I’m here to hear it.” 

“So?” asked Eric and Jack finished drawing on Eric’s hand, he grabbed his bag. Eric quickly followed him, ignoring the stares that followed them. They ran into their brother, quiet literally, on the way out of the library. 

“Hey,” Cory perked up, “we were just looking for you two, well not looking, we were going to the library to look for you-” They all looked at him, and he stopped talking, “You already knew that.” He said quietly, and Shawn nodded. 

Jack pushed past them all, “Can we just go, we should head home to Turner’s before he starts to worry.” 

“Yeah, we should go,” Shawn agreed with his brother, and gave his goodbyes to Cory. Eric grabbed Jack’s arm before he walked away, pulling him away from the younger boys. 

“Hey,” He whispered, “call me when you get home. Uh if you want I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to.” 

Jack nodded, “I’ll call you.” He gave Eric a smile, the first real Jack Hunter smile Eric had seen in a while, and Eric took that as a win for the day. Jack walked back to Shawn, slinging his arm over his shoulder, and Eric watched as they walked away. 

“You two have gotten close.” Cory commented, and Eric jumped at his sudden presence. 

“ _Jesus_ ,” He clutched his chest, “don’t sneak up on me like that, but yeah we have.” He looked at Cory, who was giving him a weird look, “What? Is there a problem with me being close with your best friend's brother?” 

“No,” Cory shook his head, “nothing’s wrong with it, I just think it’s-” He paused searching for the right word, “-odd. I mean you two aren’t exactly twins.” 

“Neither are you and Shawn,” Eric pointed out, starting to walk to the entrance of the school, “and you two get along just fine.” 

“Yeah,” Cory admitted, “I know, I just-” He looked at Eric for a moment, before sighing, “Never mind.” 

They spent the rest of the ride home in silence, Eric was too busy worrying about what Cory was trying to imply to pay attention to the road, almost running into a few trash cans along the way. Cory looked like he was going to have a heart attack from Eric’s driving the way he was clutching his chest. 

“Eric if I die,” Cory started, before Eric suddenly pulled to a stop in front of their house, “oh thank god!” He screamed, climbing out of the car, and Eric rolled his eyes at the over dramatics. 

“Yeah whatever,” He said, and his mom came outside, laughing at Cory. Who’d thrown himself on the ground. 

“Eric, you have a phone call waiting for you.” Jack. Eric nodded, locking his car, he headed inside. He saw Morgan on the phone, 

“So,” Morgan said, giving Eric a playful look, “what exactly are your intentions with my brother, _Jacky_.” 

She drew out the last word, and Eric shoved her away from the phone, flipping her off as she stuck her tongue out at her, “Hey, Jack, I’m sorry about her, she’s a dick.” 

He heard Jack give a soft chuckle on the other end of the line, _“No, it’s fine. I uh just called to-” He cleared his throat, “to uh let you know that me and Shawn are good, we made it home.”_

“That’s good,” Eric said, “is that all? Or do you want to-” 

_“Can you come over,”_ Jack blurted out, and Eric paused. _“Or like uh, meet me somewhere, I don’t really care. I know you probably just got home but-”_

It was Eric’s turn to interrupt him, “Yeah,” Jack went silent on the other line. “I’ll be right there Jacky.” Jack gave him a small ‘Thank you’ before hanging up the phone, and Eric grabbed his discarded coat, “Mom! I’m going to Jack’s!” He heard a muted ‘Ok!’ come from outside. 

He walked by Morgan on the way out, “Eric and Jack sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G” 

He shot her a glare, “I’ll kill you.” She snorted, and jokingly made kissy faces at him. Ignoring her, he walked out of the house, he got into his car, narrowly avoiding Cory who was for some reason still on the ground. 

Traffic was surprisingly light for the time of day as he was driving to Jack’s. Eventually he pulled up to a familiar apartment building, he walked up to Turner's floor, and knocked on his apartment door. Shawn answered it, and didn’t even wait for Eric to speak before muttering something about ‘roof, and attack.’ 

Eric gave him a grateful nod, walking up the steps to the rooftop, where he found Jack leaning on one of the walls, his chin resting on his knees which were pulled up to his chest. Eric silently walked over, and took a seat next to him. As if on instinct, Jack leaned his body weight onto Eric, who wrapped an arm around him. 

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Jack spoke up, “I don’t know why it’s this bad.” Eric raised an eyebrow, and Jack sighed, leaning into him more, “My anxiety, it’s never been this bad.” He took a shaky breath, “Usually I could give two shits about what people thought, especially about my sexuality and my home life.” 

“I don’t know why but these fucking idiots that keep talking about Chet, and what he did, and they blame it on me liking dudes, I don’t know why,” He ran his finger through his hair, “but it’s really getting to me.” He shrugged, “Might be because they’re right on the dot, and I don’t know how.” 

Eric looked at him, “He hit you because you’re bi?” 

Jack nodded, “One of the many, _many_ , reasons.” Eric brought him in impossibly closer, and Jack sighed, “I guess I’m just on edge after everything, it’s dumb I know-” 

“It’s not dumb Jacky” Eric reassured him, “You’ve got every reason to feel this way. Plus they’re assholes, and they’re main goal is to make you feel like this. There’s nothing dumb about how you’re feeling.” 

Jack nodded, burying his head in Eric’s coat sleeve, “Thank you Eric, for everything.” 

### 5 (Skipping)

Eric ran the buzzer for Turner's apartment, tugging his coat a little closer to his body as he waited to be rung up. Eventually, the buzzer rang, and Eric made his way up the stairs. He stopped when he came to Turner’s apartment, and before he could knock, Shawn opened the door.

“Pretty sure you can guess where he is.” He sighed, “He’s always up there by the way. If you wanna bring that up with him,” He paused giving Eric a desperate look, “He only listens to you.” Eric nodded, and Shawn shut the door. 

He would talk to Jack about it, but he couldn’t promise that Jack would listen. I mean what was Eric going to say “Hey I get your living with someone you don’t want to live with, and everyone around you is giving you false positivity for such a weird and fucked up situation, but hey please for our sake pretend to be fine?” Eric scoffed to himself as he made his way up to the roof. Truth be told, Jack avoiding everyone but him wasn’t the topic he’d come to talk about. 

“You’ve been cutting class,” Eric called out as he reached the rooftop, Jack turned his head slightly, and just shrugged. Eric sighed, walking up to him, “Do you ever get cold up here?” Jack just gave him another shrug, and Eric sighed again. “Am I getting the silent treatment now? Ya know Shawn just told me that I’m the only one you’ll listen to.” 

Jack pulled a smoke out of his pocket, and Eric gaped, “ _Really_?” Jack didn’t respond. Instead he lit the cigarette, and placed it between his lips, taking an inhale of smoke, of blowing it into the air. 

Jack slowly repeated the steps, before turning to Eric, “You’re the only one I can stand to be around, so” He took another inhale, and blew it out of the side of his mouth, “why wouldn’t I listen to you?” 

“Why have you been skipping class Jack?” 

“Don’t have time for it.” He stated calmly, and Eric rolled his eyes. 

He propped himself up onto the box Jack was sitting on, and looked at Jack, “Well what do you have time for then, what could possibly be eating up so much time you can’t bother to come to class.” Jack put the cigarette out, and went to grab another, but Eric grabbed his arm. “What Jack?” 

“A job.” 

“A job?” 

Jack nodded, “A job. At the local store,” He pointed to a small store on the corner of the block, and Eric raised an eyebrow. 

“Why?” Jack didn’t need a job, there was nothing he needed money for, except maybe cigarettes. Jack shrugged, and went back to smoking. “Dude,” Eric sighed, “talk to me, if you won’t talk to anyone else, then at least talk to me.” 

“I’m good.” He said, crushing another cigarette but under his heel, 

“Like hell,” Eric turned Jack to look at him, “If you keep going on like this, without talking to anyone, then you’ll end up like you did last time.” Jack didn’t say anything, he just scoffed, and brushed Eric off. Eric sighed, rubbing his eyes, he got up and started back down the fire escape, “Call me when you’re ready to talk.” 

Jack didn’t speak until Eric got down two floors. Eric looked up at Jack’s groan. Jack leaned over the rooftop, pushing his hair out of his face, he looked conflicted for a moment before calling for Eric to come back up. Eric smiled, and started his way back up the fire escape. He was a bit bitter that Jack made him go down, only to come back up, but decided not to mention it for the fear of being told to ‘fuck off’ again. 

Jack was tapping his fingers to an unrecognizable beat when Eric got back up on the roof again. He sighed, and threw Eric the box of cigarettes, “Hold them so I don’t smoke a pack.” He started tapping his fingers again, and Eric sat down next to him. “I got the job to help Turner with food and stuff.” 

“But doesn’t he-” Eric started, and Jack cut him off.

“Yeah,” He nodded, clearly annoyed with the conversation as a whole, “I know. He never takes the money, tells me to put it towards college or something, even though I usually blow it on like cigarettes.” 

“Then why do you still have the job?” Eric asked, and Jack shrugged. 

“I don’t know,” He stopped tapping his fingers, and leaned his head back, blowing a breath out through his mouth. “I guess I just need to feel like I'm not a burden. Like I’m actually contributing to something, and not just mooching off of his shit.” Jack stood up brushing himself off, before grabbing Eric’s hand and helping him up. “You should probably go before your parents start to worry.” 

Eric nodded, taking in the darkening skies, “Yeah,” He started to head down the fire escape again, “and Jack,” Jack looked to him, “You aren’t anybody’s burden, ok?” Jack rolled his eyes, and Eric insisted, “You aren’t.” 

Jack just turned away, and Eric started to head down the fire escape, making a quick stop along the way. Before heading back to his car, and driving home. 

_\-----_

It was well past midnight by the time Jack made his way back through the window of the apartment. He quietly made his way through the living room, as to not wake Shawn, or Turner. 

“Jack.” Someone's voice called out for him, and Jack jumped. 

“Fuck,” He whispered to himself as Turner turned on the light. Turner crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair slightly, and Jack’s heart leapt to his throat. His experiences with upset adults weren’t the best, but he felt bad for feeling scared of what Turner was going to do. Turner wasn’t Chet, he wouldn’t do that to Jack, to anyone for that matter. Jack shakily ran a hand through his hair, and Turner’s eyes went to it. He uncrossed his arms, and gave Jack a soft smile. 

“I’m not mad at you,” He said, motioning for Jack to sit down, “I talked to Eric today.” Jack bit down a smile, fucking Eric. Always getting in Jack’s issues. It was sweet, but annoying. “He told me that you felt like you had to be contributing, or else you’d be a burden.” Jack shrugged, Turner already knew about the money, so there was no reason for Jack to lie. 

He heard Turner sighed, and he got up taking a seat next to Jack. “Jack can you look at me,” Jack did, Turner smiled at him, “You aren’t a burden here Jack. You never were, ok?” Jack nodded halfheartedly, and Turner sighed, “I guess I was going to wait until next week to give you these,” Turner reached behind Jack and into a little drawer, and he pulled out a pile of papers, handing them to Jack, “But it seems like now would be a good time.” 

Jack looked down at the papers, reading over them carefully. He slowly looked back up to Turner, who gave him a questioning look. “You wanna adopt us?” 

Turner nodded, “With your permission of course.” 

Jack looked down at the papers, “Yeah,” He looked back at Turner giving him a smile, “Yeah I would like that.” 

### +1 (Endings) 

“So Hunter-Turner,” Eric asked, handing Jack a soda, “How’s it feel to be done with high school?” 

Jack laughed, Eric was always known for his dramatics, “So fucking good, never thought I’d do it.” He admitted, causing Eric to chuckle. “It’s a miracle I passed.” 

“Ain’t that the truth,” Eric said, raising his soda, “A toast to barely passing high school.” Jack raised his drink as well. Eric took a sip, before laying back down on the roof. “So where are you planning on going to college?” 

Jack shrugged, “Haven’t really thought of it much considering how much shit has gone down this year, there was no time to ya know.” Eric nodded, and Jack turned the question over to him, “How about you, you gonna leave me in September or not?” After everything with his dad, and Turner, school had just kinda slipped his mind, and he never got around to actually applying to college. 

“Na,” Eric shook his head, “Not yet, taking a leap year, so I can maybe re-do my SAT's to get into a better school.” 

Jack nodded along with Eric, taking another sip of his drink. Maybe Jack could retake them with him, “Hey Er?” Eric raised his head in acknowledgement, “What if I retook them with you, applied together?” 

Eric gave him a genuine smile, “Yeah that would be awesome, we could be like roommates or something!” 

“Yeah?” Jack asked again, “You really wanna do it?” 

“Fucking yes!” Eric laughed, “Man that would be awesome, imagine it, Jack and Eric, Hunter-Turner and Matthews teamed up once again!” Jack smiled as Eric rambled off possibilities. 

He’s glad Eric had liked the idea, because he really didn’t want Eric to leave for college, and he didn’t want to go if he was going to be alone. He knew eventually they’d probably go their separate way, but he’d rather that would be later rather than sooner. He’d always liked Eric, but in the past year they’d gotten close, really close, and Jack wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. Eric might not know it but he’d helped Jack through a lot this year, with his dad, everything that was going on in Jack’s head, Turner, he’d even convinced Jack to stop smoking, which was _not_ an easy task. Eric had been there for Jack, and he wasn’t ready to give him up just yet. 

Eric snapped his fingers in front of Jack’s face, “You with me there buddy?” 

Jack averted his attention back to Eric, “Yeah sorry, I was just thinking.” 

“Thinking about what?” 

“Us.” 

Eric blushed, clearing his throat. Jack smiled, he liked having this effect on Eric, knowing he could make the younger boy flustered with just a few words. He knew Eric didn’t feel that way about him, as he’d been rejected by him quite a lot during their time together, but it still felt nice to know what effect he had. 

“What,” Eric started, his blush reaching his ears, “about us?” 

Jack looked at Eric who was avoiding his eyes, and blew some hair out of his face, “I don’t know. Just how I don’t want this-” He motioned between them, “-us to end. I know it has to eventually, we can’t just keep holed up in Philly forever, but I still don’t want it to end.” 

Eric was looking at him with a shocked look on his face, and Jack worried he’d said the wrong thing. He averted his gaze from Eric and looked down at the cars passing down below them. He rubbed his knuckles a bit while he waited for Eric’s response. Eventually, after what seemed like forever of awkward silence, Eric cleared his throat. 

“That’s,” Eric licked his lips, “uh, wow. That’s- wow.” 

Jack laughed, “Speechless Matthews?” Eric nodded, which caused Jack to laugh harder. “Well don’t think too hard about it, you might hurt yourself.” 

“Oh,” Eric rolled his eyes, “ha ha very mature.” Jack laughed to himself, and Eric threw a rock, a pebble really, at him. “You’re only acting like an ass, because you were just a sap; and you know it would ruin your perfectly crafter rep if it ever got out that the great Jack Hunter-Turner was a big ol softie.” 

Jack rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his drink, “No one will believe you if you tell them anyway.” 

Eric shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not. You never know, I mean, I believed you were straight.” Jack sputtered, coughing up his soda. Eric grinned, “Not my finest moment, I’ll admit.” 

Jack leaned all the way back, laughing, “I forgot about that!” 

“I,” Eric held his head in his hands, “wish I could. Sadly, it is permanently burned into my brain.” Eric jerked, “I just remembered,” He put his drink down, turning to face Jack, who was still lying flat on the roof, with no intention of getting up anytime soon. “I wanted to ask you something, well clear something up, it’s been on my mind for like, _forever-”_

“Eric,” Jack sighed, smiling at his best friend, “What was the question?” 

“Right,” Eric wrung his hands out, “So back when the whole ‘Me thinking you’re straight’ thing went down, you flirted with me like a lot, like so much, like I couldn’t walk five steps without you cat calling me-” 

“Eric!” Jack’s face started to heat up, he really didn’t want to be reminded of those times, “Your point?” 

“Oh!” Eric nodded, smiling, “Right! Uh so I just wanted to know if that was like an act? You know if that was just your weird way of trying to make friends or,” He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck, “you know, if you were serious or not.” 

Oh, Jack was serious. He was dead serious. But it’s not like he could just come out and say “Oh yeah all of that was real because I’ve been in love with you since we met and have been desperately trying to get your attention for years” because that would be weird, and probably ruin one of the best things in Jack’s life right now. 

“Uhh,” Jack’s mouth dried, he breathed out, licking his lips, “Uhh well I- uh umm.” He paused, clearing his throat, “I-” Eric was looking at him with a curious look, and Jack’s face flushed. “I mean- I- um.” Jack didn’t have an answer. He didn’t want to lie to Eric, but he feared telling the truth would have worse consequences than if he didn’t. Eric was still looking at him, expecting an answer Jack couldn’t give to him. Jack tried to get words out again, just to say something, _anything_ , but he still couldn’t manage to get anything out. 

“Jack?” Eric asked worriedly, and Jack just completely froze up. His breath quickened, and his hands started to shake. The world around him started to blur a bit, and he threw his arm over his eyes in an attempt to block out the sunlight. 

“Hey,” Eric’s voice cut through the haziness, “hey Jackie it’s okay, you don’t have to answer, you’re okay, everything is okay Jack.” 

Jack nodded along with Eric’s words, eventually coming back to reality after a short while. He removed his arm from his eyes, and saw a worried Eric hovering over him. “Sorry,” He said sheepishly, and Eric shook his head. 

“No need to be sorry.” Eric reached out for him slowly, “Can I?” Jack nodded, allowing Eric to wrap his arms around him carefully. It was an awkward position considering Jack’s back was still flat on the roof, and Eric was still partially sitting up. They probably looked like some weird acrobatics trick. The thought of how ridiculous they probably looked was enough to make Jack laugh. Eric pulled back at the sound, looking at Jack weirdly as he started to laugh. “What’s so funny?” 

Jack shook his head, “Nothing, just we probably looked ridiculous.” 

Eric looked offended, “How dare you,” He gasped, “ _You_ looked ridiculous, _I_ looked amazing.” 

Jack nodded, “Yeah,” He said softly, “You do.” Eric looked at him funny, and Jack froze. “Oh- I- uh, fuck I just uh-, I meant, you know, you-” His pitiful attempt to get himself out of the mess he’d made was thankfully cut short, by Eric grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, and pulling him into a bruising kiss. Jack tensed for a moment, before relaxing, and hooked an arm around Eric’s shoulder’s bring him closer. 

Eric pulled away, breathing heavily, and Jack sputtered. “Uh, I’m not complaining, but I thought you didn’t like boys?” 

“I changed my mind.” Eric shrugged, and Jack raised an eyebrow. “I mean I like you, and that’s all I’m sure about. I mean I didn’t know at first, to be honest at first I wanted to throttle you all the time, but then I got to know you, and this past school year has been amazing.” He paused, “I mean not for you, your life as kinda been shit I guess-” 

“Thanks?” 

“-but yeah. I like hanging out with you, and at first I thought it was a ‘bro’ thing ya know? But then I started to realize it wasn’t really a ‘bro’ thing, because most ‘bros’ don’t want to make out with the other bro.” 

“You want to make out with me?” Jack smirked, and Eric glared at him. 

“So yeah, I guess I like girls and guys, I don’t really know yet, all I know is I seem to like almost every attractive female, and you.” Eric took a deep breath, “I was kinda hoping you’d help me figure it out.” 

Jack nodded, trying to take in all of the information. “Ok, so you want to experiment, see if you’re into guys?” 

Eric shook his head, “No, I’m definitely into guys, you mostly.” Jack nodded, “I just, I don’t know, this is all pretty new to me-” 

“So you want me to help you get familiar with it?” Jack asked, “Help you with the harder stuff that isn’t just figuring out who you like?” Eric nodded, smiling, and Jack thought about it for a second, “Can I kiss you?” Jack asked, and Eric’s face flushed, but he nodded. Jack leaned in, lightly brushing his lips against Eric’s. 

“Well I guess, because you’ve helped me through a lot this year, it’s only fair is I do the same.” Jack smiled, and Eric’s face lit up. 

“Are you serious?” Eric asked, and Jack nodded. 

“As a heart attack.” 

Eric squealed, Jack didn’t know he could do that, and tackled Jack, pressing short kisses all over his face. Eric pulled back a bit, “Wait does this mean we’re dating now? Like boyfriends and such, or something like that?” 

Jack let it wash over him. Boyfriends with Eric Matthews. Boyfriends with the guy he’s been after since before he could remember. Jack smiled at Eric, brushing a stray piece of hair behind his ear, “Yeah, _boyfriends_ , I like the sound of that.” 

Eric smiled, kissing Jack softly, “Who would’ve thought, the great Jack Hunter-Turner, a _boyfriend_.” 

“Oh fuck off.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda a weird format but I wanted to leave it as a oneshot instead of chapters


End file.
